ThinkPad R51e for college student...what do you think? Help!

[wolfman]

What a difference a few ounces make (apparently)...T42p with 15 inch display (2373-Q1U) is 6.23 pounds per IBM, T43p with 14 inch display (2668-PDU) is 5.7-5.97 pounds...R52 with 15 inch display 6.2-6.65 pounds (1849-4wu)...R52 with 14.1 inch display is 5.8-6.12 pounds (1859-28u)...

Maybe I have more "static" than "portable" computing needs but I'm not seeing a world of difference there in terms of weight that allows one to be portable and another to be a laptop version of a desktop? Of course the T42p and T43p cost a lot more and have better components (such as faster cpu and hard disk) but weight wise am I missing something here (not trying to start a flame war)?

There are 14.1 inch T's that are 4.5-4.9 pounds - seems like that is a wider spread - but for the top of the line p units I checked the weight difference starts to go away...

[GomJabbar]

I reiterate.........

Note that some people on this forum expect the best of the best, and are somewhat critical of anything less.

Boy did I hit that nail on the head!

Bubble-bursters I say.

I am sure there are many satisfied R-series owners out there. I know; I've read some of their posts. Points to consider when making a purchase can be made without being critical. If there really is a problem with a certain piece of hardware, that is a different story. But if it's just preferences being discussed, this can be done in a more neutral way.

To galileo634, you may want to head over to the ThinkPad R, A and G Series forum. See how R-series owners like the their ThinkPads.

[davidspalding]

[edited]

If that was directed at me (referring to Wolfman's post, not GomJabbar), review my comment: I wasn't talking about weight, but about the case. Side by side comparisons, I found the R's to be about as capable as a T (with very similar processor and video components, ahem), but the case was a bit larger and less solid.

Everyone has a perspective, and that's mine. Take it or leave it.

[galileo634]

I reiterate.........

Note that some people on this forum expect the best of the best, and are somewhat critical of anything less.

Boy did I hit that nail on the head!

Bubble-bursters I say.

I am sure there are many satisfied R-series owners out there. I know; I've read some of their posts. Points to consider when making a purchase can be made without being critical. If there really is a problem with a certain piece of hardware, that is a different story. But if it's just preferences being discussed, this can be done in a more neutral way.

To galileo634, you may want to head over to the ThinkPad R, A and G Series forum. See how R-series owners like the their ThinkPads.

HI! I've just bought my R51e I'll receive it next week. Thanks to all of you, that help me deciding what to buy. I think that's a great choice for my budget. Of course there are some Acers, Toshibas or HPs cheaper than ThinkPads. But I'm sure they not the same quality . Maybe my next notebook will be an T-serie or X-serie. Today I choose a R-serie ThinkPad (money reasons )....I hope I've made a good choice

[davidspalding]

I suspect that you'll be happy with it. A couple of the R's that I played around with had really zippy performance.

[scrible88]

I played on an R5* today, not sure exactly which one... R52 I think? It had a centrino.

It was fairly nice. I didn't like the hard plastic as well as my rubberized x22, but that doesn't really matter. The only thing that really caught my eye was the quality difference between the xga 14 inch and my x22's 12 inch. The R5* screen wasn't near the quality.

Very nice notebook overall though. First time I'd used one. I definately wouldn't mind one if I was on that kind of budget. I was really surprised with the performance too... very zippy. Felt like a nice, solid notebook.